It's no wonder that a Wevers work was recently featured at the New York City Ballet's prestigious Choreographic Institute and that Spectrum will present another new Wevers piece during its studio series in December.

Friday evening featured a section of Wevers' striking "X Stasis," which was the hit of PNB's 2006 Choreographers' Showcase. The excerpted pas de deux was performed by two of PNB's most charismatic male dancers, Jonathan Poretta and Lucien Postlewaite. They completely embodied the quick-fire yet elongated style of "X Stasis," with its jagged edges and blazing theatricality.

Wevers' flair for drama, which infuses his own dancing, carries over to his creations for others, and it is very exciting to see him continue to develop as a maker of dances. Like "X Stasis," Byrd's "Interrupted Narratives/War" evinced polish in both the movement and the dancing.

Never afraid to tackle a difficult subject, here Byrd takes on the Iraq war, specifically the soldiers from Washington and Oregon states who have died in service to their country. As Spectrum company members David Alewine and Jared Wootan enacted the daily tasks of wartime life, they were repeatedly attacked and, ultimately, gunned down. Their flailings were set against a live reading of actual soldiers' names as a small child plants a small American flag for each soldier in an open coffin that represents their common death. It was a moving tribute to our troops and a political statement that doesn't bludgeon.

Deborah Wolf's "arc angle," Gérard Théoret's "Seeking Intrepid" and Jason Ohlberg's "Song of the Siren" all had moments of beauty and power, with Ohlberg bringing a welcome technical skill to the latter two pieces. These two will be repeated on the upcoming final weekend of this year's festival.